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Donate Food to Manna

We couldn’t share food with our neighbors without you!  Manna appreciates donations both from individuals & groups.

One of the ways you can help is to host a food drive at your office, faith-based organization, civic group, school, club, or neighborhood association.  Check out our Most Needed Foods list below to donate the most healthy and helpful foods.

You can drop off food donations at both of our locations:

Warehouse
9311 Gaither Road
Gaithersburg, MD 20877
Monday through Friday from 8 am to 3 pm

An after-hours drop box is located outside the main entrance for donations made after our regular office hours. For safety reasons, please only place shelf-stable (no refrigerated or frozen) items in these bins.

      Administrative Office
      12301 Old Columbia Pike
      Silver Spring MD 20904
      Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 8am-4pm
      Tuesday from 8am-7pm

A pod with Manna’s name on it is located in the parking lot and will be unlocked during regular business hours to receive donations. Open the door and place donated items in the bins.
*For safety reasons, please only place shelf-stable (no refrigerated or frozen) items in these bins.*

 

Most Needed Foods

Foods Unsuitable for Donation

At Manna, we care greatly about the health of our community and respectfully ask that you do NOT donate soda, cakes, cookies, or candy, as we will not provide these goods to our participants. Kindly note that we CANNOT distribute the following:

  • Alcohol
  • Foods canned/pickled/preserved at home.
  • Foods in sharply dented, swollen, bulging, leaking or rusted cans.
  • Bulk foods that have been repackaged.
  • Foods in containers without labels.
  • Foods in opened or torn containers exposing the food to potential contamination.
  • Foods with an “off” odor or foods that show any other signs of spoilage (browning, slimy layer, unusual color).
  • “Distressed” foods = foods that have been exposed to fire, flooding, excessive heat, smoke, radiation, other environmental contamination.
  • Foods that have been recalled for potential health risks.

Before you donate food that is past it’s best by or best if used by or sell by date take some time to learn about package dates first here.  As you’ll learn, most food is perfectly good to eat weeks, months, and even years past those dates!  Knowing this, Manna does share food past date.  Here’s a guide to how long past date we’ll distribute commonly donated items:

  • Baking Mixes – 8 months
  • Dry Beans and Nuts – 1 year
  • Cereal and Crackers – 1 to 2 years
  • Uncooked Rice/Pasta – 1 to 2 years
  • Canned High-Acid Foods (peaches, tomatoes, juice, etc.) – 12 to 18 months
  • Canned Low-Acid Foods (meat and vegetables) – 2 to 3 years
  • Food in Glass/Plastic Jars – 2 to 3 years